WCCM - Inter-Religious Dialoguehttp://www.wccm.org/category/category/inter-religious-dialogue
Topics related to Inter-Religious Dialogue
enPope Francis on Interreligious dialogue: Foster respect and friendshiphttp://www.wccm.org/content/pope-francis-interreligious-dialogue-foster-respect-and-friendship
<div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><div><img alt="" src="http://www.wccm.org/sites/default/files/users/pope.jpg" style="width: 876px; height: 493px;" /></div>
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<div><span style="font-size: 13.008px; line-height: 1.538em;">Pope Francis met with participants from the plenary assembly of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, who are exploring the theme, “Members of different religious traditions in civil society”. </span></div>
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<div>Speaking to the participants of the plenary assembly of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, Pope Francis underlined the importance of friendship and respect between men and women of different religious traditions. He noted that due to increasing movement of peoples because of phenomena such as migration, Christians are being challenged to be more open to different cultures, religions and traditions.</div>
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<div>Quoting from his recently published Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii gaudium, the Pope said "an attitude of openness in truth and love must prevail in dialogue with believers of non-Christian religions, despite the various obstacles and difficulties, particularly fundamentalism on both sides "Recognizing the fact that there are situations in the world where coexistence is difficult due to fear, the Holy Father underlined that the one way to overcome this fear, was to foster dialogue.</div>
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<div>Dialogue, he went on to say, does not mean giving up your identity as a Christian. On the contrary, the Pope stressed "true openness means remaining firm in ones deepest convictions, and therefore being open to understanding others.</div>
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<div>Constructive dialogue between people of different religious traditions, Pope Francis continued, also serves to overcome another fear, which, unfortunately we find on the increase in a more heavily secularized society. It is, he said, the fear of different religious traditions and as such the religious dimension. In his concluding comments, the Holy Father said the future for interreligious dialogue lies in the coexistence of respectful diversity, and the fundamental right to religious freedom, in all its dimensions. </div>
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</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-taxonomy-vocabulary-1 field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/category/category/inter-religious-dialogue">Inter-Religious Dialogue</a></div></div></div>Thu, 12 Nov 2015 11:15:14 +0000leonardo_correa1613 at http://www.wccm.orghttp://www.wccm.org/content/pope-francis-interreligious-dialogue-foster-respect-and-friendship#commentsWatch videos of Way of Peace Dialoguehttp://www.wccm.org/content/watch-videos-way-peace-dialogue
<div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><p><a href="http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLmN5an552ULSN-9HcNAzLdtzJ3k8tGn4Y" style="text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank"><img alt="" src="https://www.wccm.org/sites/default/files/users/home_%20new81.jpg" style="text-align: justify; margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px; border-top-left-radius: 7px; border-top-right-radius: 7px; border-bottom-right-radius: 7px; border-bottom-left-radius: 7px; float: left; width: 200px; height: 122px;" /></a></p>
<p class="p1">Videos of Way of Peace Dialogue are available at our YouTube channel. His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Laurence Freeman OSB met on 12 January 2013, in Sarnath, India, for a day of Dialogue. They discussed Jesus and the Buddha and what discipleship means in an increasingly secular world.</p>
<p class="p1"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLmN5an552ULSN-9HcNAzLdtzJ3k8tGn4Y" target="_blank"><strong>&gt;&gt; WATCH VIDEOS HERE</strong></a> <a href="https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.586088938074718.152548.276990878984527&amp;type=1" target="_blank"><strong>&gt;&gt;PHOTOS</strong></a></p>
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</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-taxonomy-vocabulary-1 field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/category/category/inter-religious-dialogue">Inter-Religious Dialogue</a></div></div></div>Sun, 27 Jan 2013 23:40:00 +0000leonardo_correa1106 at http://www.wccm.orgThe Dalai Lama website publishes story on the Day of Dialoguehttp://www.wccm.org/content/dalai-lama-website-publishes-story-day-dialogue
<div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><p><strong>* The text below is from the Office of HH the Dalai Lama</strong></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 20px; color: rgb(165, 42, 42);">Dialogue between His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Fr Laurence Freeman OSB about Teacher and Disciple in Sarnath, Varanasi</span></p>
<p class="p1">January 13th 2013</p>
<p><span style="font-size:14px;"><span style="color:#000000;"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">Sarnath, Uttar Pradesh, India, 12 January 2013 - Today was dedicated to a conversation between His Holiness the Dalai Lama and his longstanding spiritual friend Fr Laurence Freeman, Director of the World Community for Christian Meditation. The theme was seeing Jesus and the Buddha as teachers and the role of the disciple. The venue was the Atisha Hall of the Central University of Tibetan Studies in Sarnath.</span></span></span></p>
<p class="p1"><span style="font-size:14px;"><span style="color:#000000;"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">The conversation began during a private meeting between His Holiness and Fr Laurence and some of his friends and benefactors. One of them asked about truth and His Holiness replied,</span></span></span></p>
<table align="right" border="0" bordercolor="#000000" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="0" height="267" style="font-size: 14px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: arial; line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(247, 242, 220); border-collapse: collapse;" width="333"><tbody><tr><td valign="top"><img alt="" src="https://www.wccm.org/sites/default/files/users/dalaisite01.jpg" style="margin-left: 5px; width: 302px; height: 232px;" title="" /></td>
</tr><tr align="center"><td valign="top"><span class="small" style="font-size: 12px;">His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Fr Laurence Freeman meeting with a small group in Sarnath, Uttar Pradesh, India, on January 12, 2013. Photo/Jeremy Russell/OHHD</span>L</td>
</tr></tbody></table><div align="justify" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: arial; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(247, 242, 220);">“Once you are familiar with the truth, it has an effect on your mind. In his own teachings the Buddha described reality in different ways because of different dispositions and temperaments among his followers. When Christians and Buddhists come together we can say we have two versions of the truth, if a Muslim joins us there are three.”</div>
<div align="justify" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: arial; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(247, 242, 220);"><br />Asked whether religion is necessary he said,</div>
<div align="justify" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: arial; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(247, 242, 220);"> </div>
<div align="justify" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: arial; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(247, 242, 220);">“Religion is a kind of instrument for transforming our minds into something positive. Everyone wants to be happy and here in the twenty-first century material facilities are highly developed. Indeed since there are still so many poor people we need to have material development. However, a great deal depends on our becoming aware of the limits of material values and our beginning to look inward. So far material development by itself has failed to produce a happy society.</div>
<div align="justify" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: arial; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(247, 242, 220);"> </div>
<div align="justify" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: arial; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(247, 242, 220);">“Before an audience of about 250 in the larger hall, Fr Laurence opened the conversation by recalling an earlier occasion when he invited His Holiness to comment on passages from the gospels,<br /><br />“We were deeply touched by your handling of our sacred words and your insight into the truth of the gospels. It took a lot of courage.”<br />His Holiness replied,</div>
<div align="justify" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: arial; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; background-color: rgb(247, 242, 220);"><br />“I found there were ideas in common with Buddhist teaching and it made for a very good meeting. After that you came with friends to Bodhgaya, and for the first time Buddhists and Christians prayed together under the Bodhi tree.”<br /><br />Fr Laurence explained that he would speak about Jesus and how he relates to him as a teacher and then His Holiness would speak about how he views the Buddha. He invited His Holiness to interrupt him if he liked, which drew the following response:</div>
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<table align="left" border="0" bordercolor="#000000" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="0" height="267" style="border-collapse: collapse;" width="308"><tbody><tr align="center"><td valign="top"><img alt="" height="233" src="http://www.dalailama.com/assets/media/news/2013-01-12-Sarnath-N02.jpg" style="margin-right: 5px;" title="" width="350" /></td>
</tr><tr><td align="center" valign="top"><span class="small" style="font-size: 12px;">His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Fr Laurence Freeman during their dialogue in Sarnath, Uttar Pradesh, India, on January 12, 2013. Photo/Jeremy Russell/OHHDL</span></td>
</tr></tbody></table><p>“We are all human beings. When I meet someone I think, ‘Here’s another human being who like me wants to be happy.’ Formality just creates unnecessary barriers between us. As members of one human family we don’t need formality between us, so if I have something to say I’ll do so.”<br /><br />Fr Laurence began to share his thoughts:</p>
<p>“I think of Jesus as a human being, a historical person later understood as the Son of God. I relate to him as a natural Jesus, an extraordinary human being, one of the few who have become universal teachers. We know little about his early life, but we know that he had an awakening when he was baptised by John the Baptist and that the spirit of it led him into the desert for forty days. Jesus taught by example, so his life is consistent with his teaching. I asked you years ago how you remain so calm and peaceful and you replied ‘I try to be the same on my own as when I’m with close friends or in public".<br /><br />“Jesus is a model for how to live my life. I consider him a universal teacher, a person of integrity with natural authority who embodies the truth. He’s someone in whom I can take refuge with trust and confidence. My relationship with Jesus straightens me out.”</p>
<p>He remarked that there seems to be a correspondence between the Christian idea that everyone is created in the image of God and Buddha nature. When he experiences Christ within, he sees him reflected in other people he meets. <br /><br />“Jesus is a medicine, a physician, not a judge; someone who brings healing to the world. He’s a teacher, a leader and a way. Because of that I feel I can live my life with meaning.”<br />“Wonderful, wonderful, that’s really my own understanding of Jesus,” His Holiness responded. “Through your own intelligent analysis you have reached an understanding that affects your life.”</p>
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</tr><tr align="center"><td valign="top"><span class="small" style="font-size: 12px;">A small audience of 250 listening to His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Fr Laurence Freeman during their dialogue in Sarnath, Uttar Pradesh, India, on January 12, 2013. Photo/Jeremy Russell/OHHDL</span></td>
</tr></tbody></table><p>“All Buddhists accept that the Buddha was the son of a local king. When he realized that even for a prince life is full of problems and difficulties he sought a deeper meaning of life and an understanding of reality. He left the palace and spent six years meditating, fasting and living in hardship. In his own life he observed morality, concentration and wisdom. He attained enlightenment and came here to Sarnath to begin his teaching. He had no regard for social status, considering kings and beggars as equal; the important thing was practice.<br /><br />“After leaving the palace, he cut his hair and removed his royal attire, donning the saffron robes of a monk. Apart from the principal precepts, the vows of the monks came about whenever the Buddha corrected mistakes the monks had made, he didn’t declare a pre-existing set of rules. He explained that there is no independent self, but that the self is a mere designation on the basis of the body and mind. The very purpose of the teaching of the lack of an independent self is to reduce self-centredness, which single-pointed faith in God can do too. All our religions have the same message of love, compassion, tolerance and forgiveness, although their philosophical views are different.”<br /><br />Everyone took lunch together under a shamiana in the University grounds and discussions continued as people ate. On his way back to the meeting hall, His Holiness greeted several friends who had come to meet him, including visually challenged girls from the nearby Jeevan Jyoti Institute for the Disabled and their teachers, in whose welfare he takes a close interest. In the afternoon session, the focus was on what it means to be a disciple. Fr Laurence began again, noting that Jesus gathered his disciples together calling on them “Follow me.” He said this image of a disciple is essential to Christian meaning and identity, but it also has a universal quality. A disciple has to be open, trusting and to tell the truth. The teacher is faithful to the disciple. This fidelity marks the teacher-disciple relationship. He affirmed that an authentic relationship with your teacher is the guiding light of your life. <br /><br />His Holiness said that a teacher must have experience, especially inner spiritual experience. The important thing is that in following a teacher you become a calmer person. Both parties to the relationship have a responsibility, the teacher’s is to take care of the student, and the student’s is to act with respect. <br /><br /><br /></p><table align="left" border="0" bordercolor="#000000" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="0" height="267" style="border-collapse: collapse;" width="332"><tbody><tr><td valign="top"><img alt="" height="233" src="http://www.dalailama.com/assets/media/news/2013-01-12-Sarnath-N04.jpg" style="margin-right: 5px;" title="" width="350" /></td>
</tr><tr align="center"><td valign="top"><span class="small" style="font-size: 12px;">His Holiness the Dalai Lama meeting with his friends, the visually challenged girls from the Jeevan Jyoti Institute for the Disabled and their teachers in Sarnath, Uttar Pradesh, India, on January 12, 2013. Photo/Jeremy Russell/OHHDL</span></td>
</tr></tbody></table><p>He remarked that we too often pay attention to appearances, like young women enhancing their external beauty with cosmetics, when what is important in our relationships is inner beauty. What follows from this is the inner peace that gives rise to happiness as individuals, as families and as communities. If we have that, when we face problems we can easily work them out between us. Inner peace brings strength.<br /><br />A questioner asked if it is possible to be a follower of both Jesus and the Buddha. Fr Laurence commented that the Bible says we should take advice from every wise person, suggesting we accept truth wherever we find it. He quoted His Holiness as saying that it may be possible to be a Buddhist and a Christian for a while, but eventually you find yourself gravitating to one or the other. His Holiness concurred. <br /><br />Someone else asked about Christians practising Buddhist meditation. His Holiness replied that there are many different methods for training the mind and it’s possible to adopt such practices. You need to see what is most effective for you. <br /><br />To a question about what happens to human beings after death, His Holiness said,<br /><br />“The simple thing is that while we are still alive, we should lead a meaningful life from day to day. That means helping others wherever we can, but at least avoiding doing them harm. Then when death comes we will have no regret and can feel confident of going to heaven or to a good rebirth. This is what I do myself. Even in my dreams I remember that I am a Buddhist monk, never the Dalai Lama. If death comes tonight, I’ll have no regrets and I hope this confidence will continue to prevail.”<br /><br />Photographs were taken together, words of thanks were said and all the participants looked forward to when they will meet again.</p></div>
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</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-taxonomy-vocabulary-1 field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/category/category/inter-religious-dialogue">Inter-Religious Dialogue</a></div></div></div>Sun, 20 Jan 2013 07:26:00 +0000leonardo_correa1100 at http://www.wccm.orgLaurence Freeman: "The Dalai Lama has been an inspiration to me" http://www.wccm.org/content/laurence-freeman-dalai-lama-has-been-inspiration-me
<div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><p style="text-align: justify; "><i>On June 18th Laurence Freeman OSB met with His Holiness the Dalai Lama in Manchester UK. They spoke about the dialogue they will share during the next WCCM Pilgrimage to India in January 2013. They also discussed plans for a new series of Way of Peace events which they will co-lead. See </i><a href="http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.481609825189297.130637.276990878984527&amp;type=1"><span class="s1"><b><i>HERE</i></b></span></a><i> some photos of the meeting and </i><a href="http://youtu.be/Xthah-Nh74A"><span class="s1"><b><i>HERE</i></b></span></a><i> a video message of the Dalai Lama to the World Community with a spacial word of encouragement to younger meditators</i>.</p>
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<p class="p2"><img alt="" src="http://www.wccm.org/sites/default/files/users/DalaiLama/dalai05.jpg" style="border-top-left-radius: 7px; border-top-right-radius: 7px; border-bottom-right-radius: 7px; border-bottom-left-radius: 7px; margin: 0px 25px 10px 0px; float: left; width: 300px; height: 200px; " /></p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><strong>You seem to have a very warm friendship with the Dalai Lama and he speaks of you warmly as his friend and spiritual brother. How did this friendship develop? When was your first meeting?</strong></p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><strong>Laurence Freeman:</strong> I first met the Dalai Lama in Montreal in 1980, when John Main invited him to visit our new community there after an interfaith service in the Cathedral. I was an early professed monk at that time. The Dalai Lama visited us for midday prayer and meditation followed by lunch. Fr. John had a very positive conversation with him and as he was leaving presented him with a copy of the Rule of St Benedict. The Dalai Lama I think was very impressed and interested by the idea of Christians meditating and teaching meditation from their own tradition. In his book <em>Towards the True Kinship of Faiths</em> he describes this meeting and how moved he was by it. He and Fr. John certainly met at a deep personal level.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Some year later, after Fr. John died, I invited his Holiness to lead the John Main Seminar. He accepted in respect of this friendship. Then he asked “What would you like to me speak about? I was slightly taken aback and thought quickly and then said “Would you be willing to comment on the Gospel from your Buddhist tradition?” The Dalai Lama pondered a bit then smiled and replied: “I don’t know a lot about the Gospels but yes, let’s try it." It was a sign both of his commitment to deep dialogue - seeing from the other's point of view and letting go of attachment to one's own - but also of his personal courage and self-confidence.</p>
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<p style="text-align: justify; ">And that was the beginning of <em>The Good Heart Seminar</em> of 1994. The book of that title has become something of a classic on inter religious dialogue. The Dalai Lama often says this is one of his favourite books, because he has so many letters from Christians around the world saying that his commentaries on the Gospel have helped them to reconnect with their own tradition.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><strong>How did the idea for The Way of Peace arise?</strong></p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><strong>LF:</strong> During the Good Heart Seminar we decided to extend the dialogue into “The Way of Peace” in which we would explore different forms of dialogue based in meditation. This was a three year program, beginning with a pilgrimage. His Holiness invited us to Bodhgaya, where the Buddha was enlightened. We had several days of dialogue on the meanings of salvation aan enlightenment and we began every day meditating under the bodhi <strong>t</strong>ree, Christians and Buddhists together in a beautiful serene way. He was especially welcoming and it was a wonderful experience. He gave us a beautiful <em>thanka</em> painted at his request by Tibetan monks depicting the Birth of Jesus. This is in our meditation room at our centre in London where we meditate every day.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The second phase of The Way of Peace was a retreat in one of our monasteries in Italy. During it we had more times of meditation together but also some stimulating dialogue sessions on the relationship between images, silence and meditation.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The third phase was the John Main Seminar in 2000, held in Belfast. We wanted to show that if a Buddhist and a Christian monk could be friends then surely Catholics and Protestants could achieve friendship as well.We believed that the friendship that arises from deep dialogue can became a force for healing the wounds of division between people - even very deep, complex and ancient wounds.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">I remember one beautiful moment during that seminar in N. Ireland when we went together into a room to meet a group of victims of violence from both sides. The mood was very tense and unfriendly; there was a very cold atmosphere as we walked in. The Dalai Lama immediately registered the emotional mood, skipped the formal introductions and went straight into dialogue beginning by telling his own story and his attitude towards the people who had occupied his country. By the end of the session, the mood had change dramatically and there was a wonderful spirit of self-discovery and openness to each other. It was actually in that meeting that he met Richard Moore , who he admired very much as an example of the human capacity for forgiveness. So over the years, and especially through these dialogues, my respect and very warm affection for the Dalai Lama have grown and deepened and enriched me.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><strong>Tell us about your last meeting in the UK…</strong></p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><strong>LF:</strong> Recently I met him during his visit to the UK. We caught up with each other's news and then we discussed further dialogues on the horizon.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The first of these will be the dialogue that we will hold in India, in Sarnath, where the Buddha made the first turning of the wheel of Dharma. That will be January in 2013. It will take place during our WCCM pilgrimage to India.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">We also discussed a new <em>Way of Peace</em> series that will focus on the contemporary issues and problems that have come to the foreground of modern life in recent years, especially our contemporary crisis, since the first <em>Way of Peace</em>. So we will announce more information about that 3-year programme soon.</p>
<p><strong><img alt="" src="http://www.wccm.org/sites/default/files/users/DalaiLama/dalai01.jpg" style="border-top-left-radius: 7px; border-top-right-radius: 7px; border-bottom-right-radius: 7px; border-bottom-left-radius: 7px; margin: 0px 0px 10px 25px; float: right; width: 300px; height: 200px; " />Today, what does the Dalai Lama represent for you?</strong></p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><strong>LF:</strong> The Dalai Lama has been an inspiration to me. I would even say a Christ-like figure. He has dealt with great personal loss and suffering. And he has become a human being with boundless compassion and also infectious joy. He teaches by example as well as by words. He can communicate with everyone in simple, informal ways from his own direct experience, without having to use jargon or complex ideas. So he is a wonderful witness I think to every human being on the planet of the human capacity to rise above our isolation and even our worst suffering. He reminds people of the full capacity of human consciousness. In my dialogues with him I have been always struck by the fact that the similarities and the differences in our experience and in our approaches are equally important. This coincides with the Dalai Lama’s opinion, that we must never underestimate the importance of the differences that are highlighted in the course of dialogue.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">My own feeling is that there is a paradox here. We enter into the deepest sympathy and even deepest union of experience <em>through the differences</em> even more than through our similarities. So the Dalai Lama has enriched my Christian faith in a surprising and creative way. He has also spoken about how his respect for and sympathy for the Christian tradition and Christian faith has been enriched by the contact that he had with our Community and of course with many other Christian groups. I have no doubt, strange though it may sound, that he has enhanced and deepened my Christian faith.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">So its always a great joy to meet with him. It refreshes my optimism for the work of our own community - The World Community for Christian Meditation - especially our recently launched <em>Meditatio</em> outreach which is bringing the spiritual fruits of meditation to the secular world - which is also deepening the much needed spiritual renewal of the Church. I travel a lot as the Dalai Lama does too. Sometimes our paths cross and that is a great happiness; but even in the times between our meetings I feel very connected to him as a fellow monk, a meditator and, as simply as that very rare phenomenon - a peaceful, joyful and normal human being!</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">l and our community look forward very much to the January meeting in Sarnath and the next Way of Peace and we keep His Holiness and his extraordinary work for the contemporary world in our prayer always.</p>
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</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-taxonomy-vocabulary-1 field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/category/category/inter-religious-dialogue">Inter-Religious Dialogue</a></div></div></div>Fri, 22 Jun 2012 09:31:00 +0000leonardo_correa931 at http://www.wccm.orgSALVATION OR ENLIGHTENMENT?http://www.wccm.org/content/salvation-or-enlightenment
<div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><p style="text-align: left; "><img alt="" src="http://www.wccm.org/sites/default/files/users/Inter-Religious/salvation_enlightenment/SalvationEnlightenment.jpg" style="border-top-left-radius: 7px; border-top-right-radius: 7px; border-bottom-right-radius: 7px; border-bottom-left-radius: 7px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 25px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; float: left; width: 300px; height: 387px; " /><span style="color:#a52a2a;"><strong><span style="font-size:20px;">A Day of Dialogue</span></strong></span></p>
<p style="text-align: left; "><em><strong>with Tibetan Buddhist, Dr Alan Wallace and</strong><br /><strong>Bendictine monk, Fr Laurence Freeman</strong></em></p>
<p style="text-align: left; "><strong>Thursday 21 June 2012—10.00 am to 4.00 pm<br />Westminster Cathedral hall, Ambrosden Avenue, London</strong></p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Are Salvation and Enlightenment the same? If so, at what level do - or can - different traditions achieve sameness? From their common ground of friendship formed over many years, Alan and Laurence will lead an exploration of these important issues. Vital as these questions are to good dialogue and mutual understanding, both agree it is in the practice of meditation that the real answers are experienced. The day will therefore include both their talks and discussions, questions from the participants and times of meditation.</p>
<ul><li style="text-align: left; "><a href="http://www.wccm.org/sites/default/files/users/Inter-Religious/salvation_enlightenment/interfaith%20wallace_freeman_june2112_eposter%20%281%29.pdf" target="_blank"><strong>Leaflet</strong></a></li>
<li style="text-align: left; "><span style="color:#006400;"><strong><a href="http://www.wccm.org/sites/default/files/users/Inter-Religious/salvation_enlightenment/Registration%20Form%2021%20June%202012.pdf" target="_blank">Registration form</a></strong></span><strong></strong><br /><!--break--></li>
</ul></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-taxonomy-vocabulary-1 field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/category/category/inter-religious-dialogue">Inter-Religious Dialogue</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/category/category/meditatio">Meditatio</a></div></div></div>Thu, 09 Feb 2012 10:25:00 +0000admin733 at http://www.wccm.orgCommon Ground An Interfaith Dialogue Singapore 7-8 Jan 2012http://www.wccm.org/content/common-ground-interfaith-dialogue-singapore-7-8-jan-2012-1
<div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><p style="text-align: justify; "><img alt="" src="http://www.wccm.org/sites/default/files/users/Inter-Religious/ComGrLogo.gif" style="border-top-left-radius: 7px 7px; border-top-right-radius: 7px 7px; border-bottom-right-radius: 7px 7px; border-bottom-left-radius: 7px 7px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 25px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; float: left; width: 190px; height: 190px; " /><span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>A Meditatio Seminar on The Contemplative Dimension of Faith</strong></span></p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">led by Laurence Freeman OSB </p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><u><em>With contributions from</em></u></p>
<ul><li>Venerable Chuan Guan</li>
<li>Habib Syed Hassan Al-Attas</li>
<li>Mother Mangalam</li>
<li>Master Huang Xin Cheng</li>
<li>Master Chung Kwang Tong (Wei Yi)</li>
</ul><p style="text-align: justify; "><br />This Meditatio Seminar, held in Singapore in January 2012, focussed on the contemplative practice of religion and how the shared experience of silence in meditation can enhance inter-religious dialogue.</p>
<p>A gallery and the brochure of the Seminar are available.</p>
<p><!--break--></p>
<p>Sitting in the silence of the mystery, that all religions recognise as the essential nature of God or ultimate reality, is a good preparation for effective dialogue.</p>
<p>This silence, gentle, non-judgemental, non-coercive, non-persuasive, does not compromise or merge our important differences which deserve respect. But it has the power to unite, fostering a new level of tolerance and understanding and a clearer recognition of each other as brothers and sisters of the great originating mystery. This makes an immense difference to the quality, depth and effectiveness of dialogue.</p>
<p> </p>
<p><strong>INQUIRIES: <a href="mailto:commonground2012@gmail.com?subject=Info%20request%20about%20the%20Interfaith%20Dialogue%2C%20SIngapore%207-8%20January%202011">commonground2012@gmail.com</a></strong></p>
<ul><li><a href="http://www.wccm.org/sites/default/files/users/CommonGroundSeminar/CommonGround%20Brochure%20-Final%2011Nov.pdf" target="_blank"><strong>Download the Brochure</strong></a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.wccm.org/sites/default/files/users/CommonGroundSeminar/CommonGround%20Poster%20-Final%2011Nov.pdf" target="_blank"><strong>Download the Poster</strong></a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.357586664258281.106887.276990878984527&amp;type=1" target="_blank"><strong>See the Picture Gallery</strong></a></li>
</ul><p><em>Organised by IRED and Meditatio</em></p>
<p> </p>
</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-taxonomy-vocabulary-1 field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/category/category/inter-religious-dialogue">Inter-Religious Dialogue</a></div></div></div>Thu, 03 Nov 2011 00:40:00 +0000admin618 at http://www.wccm.orgRobert Kennedy talk about Zen at Meditatiohttp://www.wccm.org/content/robert-kennedy-talk-about-zen-meditatio
<div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><p><img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/users/General_Images/home_new3.jpg" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 15px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; float: left; width: 220px; height: 165px; " /></p>
<p><strong>Robert Kennedy</strong> is one of three Jesuits in the world who answer to the tittles “Father” and “Roshi” or venerable Zen teacher. He is not only a Jesuit priest and Zen master, but also a psychotherapist and professor of theology at St Peter’s College in New Jersey. He is a representative of the Institute for Spiritual Consciousness in Politics at the United Nations. He is the author of Zen Spirit, Christian Spirit and Zen Gifts to Christians.</p>
<p>Robert Kennedy has found meaning in the practices of both Christianity and Buddhism. He conducts weekend and weeklong meditation sesshins (Zen retreats) in the United States, Mexico and Ireland. These retreats reflect Kennedy’s deep respect for and knowledge of Buddhism. They also carry out the principles of the Jesuit statement on mission and inter-religious dialogue, which demands that Jesuits be not only familiar with the thought of men and women of other religious traditions but be immersed with them in theological exchange and in a dialogue of life, action and religious experience.<br /> </p>
<p><strong>LISTEN TO ROBERT KENNEDY TALK ABOUT ZEN AT MEDITATIO:</strong></p>
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</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-taxonomy-vocabulary-1 field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/category/category/inter-religious-dialogue">Inter-Religious Dialogue</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/category/category/talks-and-lectures">Talks and Lectures</a></div></div></div>Tue, 05 Apr 2011 23:20:00 +0000admin342 at http://www.wccm.orgThe Good Hearthttp://www.wccm.org/content/good-heart
<div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><p><img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/users/Inter-Religious/the good heart.JPG" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 15px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; border-top-width: 1px; border-right-width: 1px; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-left-width: 1px; border-top-style: solid; border-right-style: solid; border-bottom-style: solid; border-left-style: solid; float: left; width: 185px; height: 280px; " /><strong><span style="font-size:16px;">T</span>he year one</strong> of the world's most beloved spiritual teachers, the Dalai Lama, first prayed in Jerusalem and Lourdes as an interfaith pilgrim, 1994 was also the year when he led an historic discussion, "The Good Heart", for the tenth annual John Main Seminar in London.</p>
<p>At the seminar, the World community for Christian Meditation brought Christians and Buddhists together to experience enlightened dialogue between religions, conducted with respect, reverence, humility, humor and the spirit of friendship. And for the first time, the Dalai Lama commented extensively on the Christian Gospels as a Buddhist monk, establishing a model for all future dialogue between the World's religions.</p>
<p>In this unprecedented video series, the Dalai Lama examines well-known passages from each of the four Christian Gospels, providing a unique reading of these familiar sources of faith. He insists on the need to see the fundamental differences between Buddhism and Christianity, such as over the idea of God. But he also highlights the "striking similarities and parallels" between the lives of the founders, their teachings on non-violence and the progressive stages of spiritual development.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Day Four: St. John's Gospel: On the fourth day of the 1994 John Main Seminar, His Holiness reads from Chapter 12 of the Gospel according to St. John, elaborating on Faith in Jesus, and from Chapter 20, The Resurrection. A panel discussion follows the Dalai Lama's comments, and highlights from the corresponding Interfaith Festival and featured.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.mehndiskinart.com/Dalai_Lama_video.htm">http://www.mehndiskinart.com/Dalai_Lama_video.htm</a> </p>
</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-taxonomy-vocabulary-1 field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/category/category/inter-religious-dialogue">Inter-Religious Dialogue</a></div></div></div>Tue, 05 Apr 2011 23:19:00 +0000admin341 at http://www.wccm.orgInter-Religious Dialoguehttp://www.wccm.org/content/inter-religious-dialogue
<div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><p style="text-align: justify;"><img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/users/Inter-Religious/DL_%26_LF.jpeg" style="border-top-left-radius: 7px; border-top-right-radius: 7px; border-bottom-right-radius: 7px; border-bottom-left-radius: 7px; margin: 0px 10px 2px 0px; float: left; width: 320px; height: 197px;" /><span class="dropcap">M</span>editation is a universal wisdom found at the heart of all religious traditions. <span style="line-height: 1.538em;">So it naturally leads into the common ground we all share and meet in. When we are in touch with this source of contemplative unity dialogue will be more productive of friendship and trust.</span></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Merely conceptual or merely activist dialogue runs the risk of remaining superficial, easily undermined and unsustainable.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">The Community has been involved in inter-religious dialogue since its beginning. An early and still influential milestone in this work was the Good Heart Seminar, the 1994 John Main Seminar led by the Dalai Lama.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">During these days of meditation and dialogue he commented on the gospels from the Buddhist perspective. The Good Heart as a book translated in many languages continues to inspire this form of dialogue.</p>
<blockquote><p>Arguably the best book on interreligious dialogue published to date. One does not say such things lightly, but in a very real sense this is a holy book." — Huston Smith</p></blockquote>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="line-height: 1.538em;">The Seminar led to a further dialogue project jointly led by the Dalai Lama and Fr Laurence called The Way of Peace. Over a number of years it took the form of pilgrimage to each other’s sacred sites, times of retreat together and dialogue in places of social or political conflict especially in Northern Ireland.</span></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">At the beginning of 2013, Fr. Laurence Freeman and the Dalai Lama met again, in Sarnath, India, for a day of Dialogue. They discussed Jesus and the Buddha and what discipleship means in an increasingly secular world. Watch the talks below:</p>
<p><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/videoseries?list=PLmN5an552ULSN-9HcNAzLdtzJ3k8tGn4Y" width="560"></iframe></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"> </p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="line-height: 1.538em;">The Community’s inter-religious dialogue continues today with Buddhists, Muslims, Hindus and Jews and other faiths – all with the conviction that such dialogue, empowered by the contemplative dimension of faith generates action and witness that promote the peace and justice on which a future world order needs to be built.</span></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><br /><strong style="font-size: 14px;">Links:</strong></p>
<ul class="plus-list"><li><a href="http://www.wisdompubs.org/pages/display.lasso?-KeyValue=69&amp;-Token.Action=&amp;image=1" target="_blank">The Good Heart </a></li>
<li><a href="/sites/default/files/users/Inter-Religious/Inter-Religious-Dialogue.pdf" target="_blank">Seeing from the Other’s Point of View: An Understanding of Inter-Religious Dialogue. An Essay by Laurence Freeman OSB</a></li>
<li><a href="/sites/default/files/users/Inter-Religious/Tablet%20york%20article-1.pdf" target="_blank">Prayer as meeting: Christian-Muslim Dialogue</a></li>
<li><a href="/content/robert-kennedy-talk-about-zen-meditatio">Robert Kennedy SJ: When God Disappears: A Zen Perspective on Christian Faith. Talk at Meditatio House, London, March 2011 </a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.mehndiskinart.com/Dalai_Lama_video.htm" target="_blank">The </a><a href="http://www.mehndiskinart.com/Dalai_Lama_video.htm" target="_blank">Good Heart on film</a></li>
</ul></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-taxonomy-vocabulary-1 field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/category/category/inter-religious-dialogue">Inter-Religious Dialogue</a></div></div></div>Tue, 05 Apr 2011 22:53:00 +0000admin340 at http://www.wccm.orghttp://www.wccm.org/content/inter-religious-dialogue#comments